South Dakota Election 2024: Statement on Amendment F

South Dakota Voters Approve Work Requirements for Medicaid Expansion
Constitutional Amendment F may limit access to health care for thousands of South Dakotans

South Dakota voters approved Constitutional Amendment F on Tuesday, which may place harmful government red tape around access to health care for thousands of South Dakotans.

“Ensuring our neighbors get health care is the right thing to do and this result may inhibit that process,” said retired Yankton physician Mary Milroy, Vote No on Amendment F chair. “Health care access for hardworking South Dakotans is good for them and their families, good for the employers who need them more than ever, and good for the economic progress of this state. While we appreciate the public support for Medicaid expansion by proponents of Amendment F, unfortunately, the unintended consequences from Amendment F may lead to burdensome obstacles to obtaining access to health care coverage by workers, caregivers, and individuals with chronic diseases.”

“South Dakotans could face additional bureaucracy to gain access to the affordable, quality health care they've had for the last year through Medicaid expansion,” Milroy adds. “This change to South Dakota’s Constitution could allow policy makers to create new regulations for thousands to access health care coverage they currently have. Worse, it provides no specifics on what those rules will be nor how they will be enforced.”

“The responsibility is now on policy makers to ensure South Dakotans stuck in the middle are able to access health care coverage so they don’t have to choose between a doctor’s visit and putting food on the table,” Milroy said.

The Vote No on Amendment F coalition consists of individuals as well as community and patient advocacy organizations that include AARP South Dakota, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Avera Health, Bread for the World, Community Health Care Association of the Dakotas, Dakota Rural Action, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, South Dakota Education Association, South Dakota Farmers Union, South Dakota Voices for Peace and Susan G. Komen.


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